Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
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Apathy of Government machinery about construction of over bridge at Amdi diversion claimed a total of 22 lives and several injuries in the last 10 months. After the gory mishap at Amdi diversion on Sunday, thousands of villagers gathered at the spot and staged demonstrations to protest against alleged apathy of the Government for not constructing over bridge at Amdi diversion.
National Highway was blocked for around 4 hours after the mishap. The villagers had staged demonstration at the same place to press the same demand on April 18, following a road mishap between an overcrowded jeep and truck killing 11 persons and injuring many others. Series of accidents at Amdi diversion began in November, 2011 when a speeding truck knocked dead a bike-borne couple. A pedestrian was knocked dead by the speeding truck in same month. Two months later, on January 7, 2012, a speeding truck laden with bricks lost control and turned turtle at roadside near Amdi diversion. The mishap claimed three lives.
Amdi diversion on Nagpur-Jabalpur national highway no 7 has emerged as an accident prone spot for past years. Traffic on Nagpur-Jabalpur road is continuously increasing every year and government has also sanctioned construction of four lane highway for smooth movement of traffic. Work of four lane highway has been almost completed. But, construction of over bridge has not yet been completed. However, as per the plan for construction of four lane highway on NH-7, construction of bridge should have been completed by September 2012.
A senior officer of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) told ‘The Hitavada’ on condition of anonymity that land acquisition for the construction of over bridge was not yet completed by the District Administration.
When the Land Acquisition Officer notifies the land for acquisition the proposal will be send to Union Ministry of Surface Transport. Construction work of over bridge will start in three months and construction of panel for the bridge has already started in anticipation, he added. As Instantaneous measures NHAI constructed rumble strips on both sides of Amdi diversion on Monday.
Superintendent of Police Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma told ‘The Hitavada’ that Amdi diversion has become accident prone spot as the spot claimed more than 20 human lives in a year. “We could have saved many lives, if the proposed over bridge was constructed on time by NHAI.” He assured to take up this issue with district administration to immediately construct over bridge. He further demanded traffic aid post of Highway police near accident spot.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) of Highway Police Suresh Gadekar told ‘The Hitavada’ that Highway police had written to NHAI for immediate construction of over bridge to save lives. Traffic aid post of Highway police was shifted by the NHAI after construction of four lane highway. “Our officers are regularly contacting NHAI officers for shifting of traffic aid post near Amdi diversion.” Gadekar claimed. However, NHAI strongly refuted allegation by Highway police and said that Highway police are yet to start work from their newly constructed traffic aid post since two months.
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